Mail-bag catcher.



J. FLEMING.

MAIL BAG CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED MARII, 1917.

1,241,944. 7 Patelited 0%. 2,1917.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fi1ed*March7,1917. Seri'a1'No. 153;O78.

To all whom it may concern Be it known'that I, J EFF FLEMING, 'a citizen of the United States, residing at'Point, in the county of Rains and State of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mail bag catchers and particularly to that class of mailbag catchers which are employed on moving. trains to catch mail bags. I

My invention has for its objects; firstyto provide an efficient mail catcher, second, to provide a mail catcher of such a construction that it will properly catch mail bags under various adverse conditions, and thirdly, to provide a mail catcher which will properly handle maillbags of difierent'sizes and bags having various amounts of mail therein.

With these and other objects in view which Y will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts-illustrated in the accompanying drawings'forming a part of this specification, in which,

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a railway coach to which my invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mail:

catcher,

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the mechanism.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the various views.

In the drawings 1 designates a railway coach having a doorway 2 in the side thereof. A bracket 3 is provided having an upright member 4 which engages bearings 5 and 6 which are attached to the structure of the coach in proximity with the doorway therein. ,The bearing 5 engages the bottom of the upright member 4 of the bracket and serves both as a radial bearing and alateral bearing. The bearing 6 serves as a radial bearing and has its under surface engaginga collar 7, mounted upon the upright member 4, whereby the bracket is prevented-from upward movement. The bracket 3 has an arm 8 disposed at right angles to the upright member 4. The outer end of said arm 8 has a vertical member 9 extending at right angles thereto and upwardly therefrom.

A U shaped spring member 10 is provided having its sides 11 converging at a point inconverging portion 12"thereof and the transverse end' member 14 thereon. 'Pivot holes I .Patented Oct. 2, 1917. a

termediate theends' of said sides, as desig It} are formed in said pivot bearings and are disposed transversely to the said side members 11. A link 17 is provided having holes therein at points near itsend, andbolts 19' engage said holes of the "link and the pivot holes 16, and nuts 20 screw threaded upon ends of said bolts preventing the bolts from disengaging from said holes. The vertical end member 9 of: the bracketB, eng'agesra hole 21 in thelinkfnuts' 22, screw threaded h upon said end member 9 and disposed above andv below the link, ;=prleventing lateral movement of said link upon theend member; A strutrod 23 isprovided having one end connected to the transverse endmember (140i:

the spring member by means of an eye bolt f 24 and having itsother end connected to the arm 8 of the bracket by gmeans of a clamp 25 of usual construction, which has an ear '26 extending therefrom and engaging. the igend of said strut rod which is bent at right angles to the main portion thereof. A nut 27, screw threaded uponuthe bent over end of the strut rod, prevents the strut rod from disengaging fromsaid ear.

A collar 28 is mounted upon the upright member 4 of the bracket 3 in proximity to the upper surface of the bearingv 5. A handle 29 is pivoted thereon transversely to said upright member 4. A projection 30 is provided on said handle adapted-to engage a slot 31 on the upper surface of the bearing 5 when the handle is in its lowermost position. Said slot is so positioned that when the device is swung out of the doorway of the car the engagement of said projection and said slot will position the U shaped spring mem her for engagement with a mailbag suspended in the path of said U shaped spring member. When the device is not in usethe projection may be disengagedv from the slot and the device swung within the car.

In the operation of the device, as the spring member 10 engages a mail bag, which has been detachably suspended in the path of said spring member in the usual manner,

the diverging ends guide the bag into the inclosure of the spring member, and as the bag travels farther into the inclosure formed by the converging portion of the side members, the side members separate the required amount and the bag is firmly held therebetween. If the force with which the spring member contacts the bag is too great for the friction of the spring members upon the bag to overcome, the bag contacts the link 17 and is carried along thereby, the spring member serving to firmly hold the bag from disengaging from the link. The device may then be swung within the car and the mail bag disengaged from the spring members. It will be noted that by the con struction of this device, the converging portions of the side members have a relatively large range of positions, respecting each other, which they may assume under the various conditions in. which the device is operated. This is due to the fact that the sides of the spring members are pivotally secured to the link 17 and-that the spring member is relatively long and that the springing qualities throughout the entire length of the spring member are available, thus allowing the converging portions 12 an almost unlimited movement. Although the spring member is very long the construction of the device does not render it unwieldy or unduly heav Hai ving thus fully described my invention, I claim 1, In a device of the character described, a U shaped spring member having its sides converging at points intermediate the ends thereof and having the free ends of said sides diverging, a link pivotally connected to the sides of said U shaped spring member at points intermediate the converging portion and the transverse end member thereof, a bracket aflixed to said link, and a strut rod having one end connected to the spring member and the other end thereof connected to said bracket.

2. In a device of the character described, a U shaped spring member having its sides converging at points intermediate the ends thereof and having the free ends of said sides diverging a link pivotally connected to the sides of said U shaped spring member at points intermediate the converging portions and the transverse end member thereof, a bracket affixed 'to said link and mounted for rotation, and means for locking said bracket at a predetermined position.

3. In a device of the character described, a U shaped spring member having its sides converging at points intermediate the ends thereof and having the free ends of said sides diverging, a link pivotally connected to the sides of said U shaped spring member at points intermediate the converging portions and the transverse end member thereof, a bracket affixed to said link and mounted for rotation, a means for locking said bracket at a predetermined position, and a strut rod having one end connected to said U shaped spring member and the other end thereof connected to said bracket.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JEFF FLEMING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. 

